1866 Live Oak, Cincinnati

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Some important details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: unconfirmed   Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Dated 1866 or 1867. Photo of M Yorston (66, 67), full view at left, detail view at right. Player wore a uniform with a white or light-colored shirt and dark pants in this photo. The shirt displayed a oak leaf symbol on the left breast. A newspaper account from 1866 stated that the Live Oak cap was light blue in color and that the pants were dark blue. Player ID and image scan from A. G. Spalding, America’s National Game (1911). Years Yoston with team from Greg Perkins, Peter Morris and others, Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (2012).

Written documentation on this uniform:
October 1866: “Skyblue caps, white shirts with an oak leaf design, dark blue pants.” From Cincinnati Daily Express, October 10, 1866 and Cincinnati Daily Times, October 18, 1866, researched by Greg Perkins, Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (2012).

Team genealogy: Live Oak, Cincinnati, 1866-1871
Live Oak was formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the Buckeye club in 1861, and was later reorganized after the Civil War as Live Oak in 1866. The Live Oak name may have come from Rochester, NY, were several members originated. Live Oak, Cincinnati, remained amateur during the advent of professionalism in the late 1860s and played their last competitive games in 1871. Information from Greg Perkins, Peter Morris and others, Base Ball Pioneers, 1850-1870 (2012).